Stun grenade ends standoff

October 19, 2010

BLACKSTONE â€“ A Woonsocket man was taken into custody off Farm Street Tuesday after a stand-off with police lasting more than four hours.
Members of a State Police response team set off a â€śflash bangâ€ť device at 6:32 p.m. before rushing Anthony Daignault, 53, in his pick-up truck and taking him into custody without further incident.
Blackstone Police Lt. Greg Gilmore said the incident had begun earlier in the day with a domestic incident on Seventh Avenue in Woonsocket. Daignault was reported to have fled a later confrontation with police and was being sought by Woonsocket when a Farm Street resident spotted his pickup truck off the road on an abandoned railroad embankment on Farm Street. Unconfirmed reports that the subject may have had a weapon led police to call for the special response team before seeking to take Daignault into custody.
Daignault did not respond to repeated commands from police at the scene, leading them to use the flash device to end the stand-off.
Police Chief Ross A. Atstupenas, who also responded to the scene, said later that he was pleased the incident had ended without anyone being hurt.
â€śIt went down that way for his safety, the safety of the public and the safety of the officers involved,â€ť Atstupenas said.
Gilmore said Daignault was transported to Landmark Medical Center for evaluation. No charges were brought against him in Blackstone and Woonsocket Police were still investigating what charges might be lodged over the domestic incident and later confrontation with police officers in that community.
â€śIt was great that nobody got hurt and he was brought to medical facility to be treated,â€ť Gilmore said.